Living Green: International Coastal Cleanup

SARASOTA COUNTY - It's not spring, but the Suncoast is due for a cleaning. It's called the International Coastal Cleanup, and it happens this Saturday throughout Sarasota County. The effort to remove trash and debris from our beaches, waterways and parks depends on lots of volunteers.

One of the things that makes the Suncoast such a great place to live is the amazing natural beauty of its beaches and bays. People come here from all over the world to enjoy views like this.

But look closer; along Sarasota's bayfront, you can find trash: paper and plastic, cigarette butts, plastic straws, an old lighter and a ripped piece of clothing, about to wash up and pollute our shoreline.

Keep Sarasota Beautiful is organizing Saturday's clean up and they say by the end of the day, thousands of pounds of trash will be picked up. "That's kind of the catch 22 because you certainly want, I think there's some competition between the groups to see how many bags they can pick up, but at the same time, that unfortunately says some bad things as far as the amount of litter people are throwing out there," says Keep Sarasota Beautiful Program Coordinator Wendi Crisp.

More than 1,600 people have already signed up to take part in the clean up at 27 different locations in Sarasota County and there's still time for you to help out, too. "Well, this is an event where we can get our residents involved, they really have a sense of pride in their community, they like to keep their shorelines clean, as evidenced by the #1 rating we received out at Siesta Key a couple years back," says Crisp.

Again, the International Coastal Cleanup happens this Saturday from 8 am until noon at 27 different spots in Sarasota County. If you'd like to sign up, you have until Thursday to do so. Click here for more information: https://www.scgov.net/KSCB/Pages/default.aspx

Other communities, like North Port, are also taking part in the cleanup